Around 2000, I moved from one apartment complex in Indianapolis. I had the lowest permissible level of car insurance while I lived in Indiana, liability coverage only.

My premium increased when I moved. When I asked my insurance company (Allstate), the representative told me that the state regulatory agency allowed this price increase based on my new zip code.

If I had comprehensive coverage, I perhaps could understand a premium increase (although I felt as safe in both locations). But why should a change in zip code result in an increase in premium for automobile liability coverage?

A higher percentage of the residents near my new apartment were African-Americans. Is my experience an example of structural racism?

As your constituent, I urge you to push in future legislative sessions for the following improvements to our elections, which could all be accomplished without changes to the United States Constitution: Continue reading →

In the March 21, 2018 Toronto Star, I read about the heroic FBI’s actions to save us from Abdulrahman El Bahnasawy, yet another mentally-ill, substance-abusing Arab Muslim youth. It had all the elements of the other “terrorism” plots, including a confidential informant and deliberate FBI actions to induce the youth into actions which would allow the US government to charge him with more serious offenses. It had the added element of Canadian government cooperation to facilitate prosecution and maximization of punishment. Of course, all of this contributes to a climate of hatred and fear of Arabs in particular and Muslims in general, and, sadly, for all non-whites for many people in North America. But I’ve complained a whole lot on this blog & my other blog about why the War on Terror is in fact a tactic of white supremacy. Continue reading →

FL prisoners announce Operation PUSH starting Jan 15 aimed at crippling the prison system with non-cooperation in the spirit of Martin Luther King Jr

The following message is from a group of prisoners who are spread throughout the Florida Department of Corrections (DOC). It was sent anonymously and compiled from a series of correspondences received on November 26 and 27 by both the Gainesville chapter of the Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee (IWOC) and the national Campaign to Fight Toxic Prisons.

According to their statement, these prisoners plan to initiate a work stoppage or “laydown” beginning Monday, January 15th, coinciding with MLK Day, in nonviolent protest of conditions in FL prisons. They are calling it Operation PUSH.